Josh’s Culinary Endeavors

Probably more information than you’ll ever need to know about knife maintenance.

I found this recipe adaptation from The Boston Globe. I think I’ll try it when the in-laws visit next month.

Makes 1 quart

1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
1 cup whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
2/3 cup Guinness stout
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons molasses
4 egg yolks
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. In a medium saucepan, scrape in the vanilla bean seeds. Add the pod, milk, and cream. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Turn off the heat, cover the pan, and let the flavors infuse for 30 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan over medium-high heat, whisk together the stout and molasses. Bring to a boil and turn off heat.
3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk the yolks, sugar, and vanilla extract. Whisk in a few tablespoons of the hot cream mixture, then slowly whisk in another 1/4 cup of the cream. Add the remaining cream in a steady stream, whisking constantly. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan.
4. Stir the beer mixture into the cream mixture. Cook the custard over medium heat, stirring often with a wooden spoon, for 6 to 8 minutes or until the custard thickens enough to coat the back of the spoon.
5. Strain the mixture into a bowl and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight. Process the custard in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Rosemary & Roasted Garlic Chimichurri Emulsion - Roasted garlic, shallot, pine nuts, fresh spinach, basil, parsley, rosemary, lemon, extra virgin olive oil, fresh-squeezed lemon juice, lemon zest, sea salt

Berry & Pepper Chutney Cream Cheese - Blackberry, dewberry, cranberry, chipotle, Jonagold apple, Bartlett pear, coriander, crushed chiles, yellow onion, vinegar, cream cheese

I wanted to buy quail. HEB only had frozen “marinated” quail. I don’t swing on pretreated packaged meats. I bought a couple cornish game hens and thought I was going to make a boring dinner.

I threw together a chile rubbed charred cornish rock game hen stuffed with cilantro and ground lamb with an ancho dewberry coulis, Colorado wild rice and pistachio crusted leeks.

This is a great corn pudding recipe from the Y Bar & Grill in Oak Hill

2 cans sweet corn
1 can cream corn
1/4 stick butter
3/4 cup sugar
6 eggs
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix all ingredients in oven-safe baking dish. Bake at 350 until done in middle (1 hour or more).

Add poblano, chile powder and garlic

* 2 ¼ Cups olive or avocado oil
* ¾ Cup Dijon mustard
* ½ Cup white wine vinegar
* ¼ Cup fresh lime juice
* ¼ Cup cilantro, chopped
* ¼ tsp dried oregano leaves
* ½ tsp ground red pepper
* 6 (8 oz.) whole boneless chicken breasts, split in half
* 3 California Avocados, seeded and peeled
* 2 tsp sugar
* 1 ½ Gallons mixed salad greens, torn into bite size pieces

I don’t think I’ve ever eaten brussel sprouts in my going on 30 years. I made them tonight - steamed with sea salt and a dijon butter sauce. Awesome! Also on the menu was garlic and rosemary roasted fingerling potatoes and smoked pork porterhouses. For the rub I used kosher salt, fresh cracked peppercorns, garlic powder, cumin, chile powder and ground coriander.

Tonight I grilled New York strips topped with smoked mustard seeds and green peppercorns as well as sauteed cipollini and garlic. On the side: garlic mashed potatoes with bacon drippings.

This meal was inspired by our recent anniversary dinner at the Driskill Grill here in Austin.

Staples in steak grilling now are smoked mustard seeds and peppercorns. If someone hasn’t already created a cologne based on green peppercorns, I’m doing it… they have an amazing aroma!

Here is a photo and simple description of an awesome vegetarian pizza that I made tonight for Monday Night Football!

Roasted fennel, garlic, cipollini onions and red bell pepper. Asiago, mozzarella and provolone cheeses and fresh basil from the garden. Mmmmm, good!

Elise wanted a hard boiled egg to take with her lunch tomorrow. I never thought about it before as we don’t often eat hard boiled eggs. I like to think that I can cook, but I didn’t know how long to boil an egg.

So as to reduce the risk of your eggs cracking, put them in the pot of water before boiling the water.

Soft-cooked eggs: 3 to 5 minutes
Medium-cooked eggs: 7 to 8 minutes
Hard-cooked eggs: approximately 15 to 20 minutes